Bluefin, a leader in integrated payments and data and payment security, today announced it has teamed up with Visa for network tokenization.

Through this collaboration, Bluefin will integrate directly with Visa to provide network tokens across card brands.  Bluefin will provide the network tokenization option through ShieldConex, a vaultless tokenization service that provides data security by protecting payment and ACH account data, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and Protected Health Information (PHI) entered via an iFrame or API. In addition, Bluefin’s payment gateway, PayConex, will have the ability to process network tokens.

“The acceleration of digital commerce and card-not-present (CNP) transactions has underscored requirements for secure payment processing and data input,” said Tim Barnett, Chief Information Officer at Bluefin. “We are excited to provide our partners and merchants with greater flexibility around how they tokenize cardholder data through the addition of this network tokenization option.”

According to LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ 2022 True Cost of Fraud Study: Retail and Ecommerce, the cost of every $1 lost to fraud for U.S. merchants increased 19.8% since 2019, rising from $3.13 to $3.75. Expected benefits of network tokenization include an improved payment and checkout experience, an increase in authorization rates and, according to Visa, a 28% average reduction in fraud.

“Tokenization is an imperative aspect of a safe and secure digital economy,” said Ansar Ansari, global head of platform products at Visa, Inc. “Bluefin’s collaboration with Visa helps not only secure payments, but also improves customer experience.”

Network tokenization differs from traditional payment card tokenization, where tokens for credit and debit card data are issued by a merchant’s acquirer or payment processor. Instead, the card brands issue a token and unique transaction cryptogram, which makes network tokens interoperable across acquirers, payment processors, and payment gateways.

Bluefin is performing all necessary technology enhancements to implement network tokenization on ShieldConex and PayConex with Visa technology, and the service will be available to Bluefin’s partners and merchants. Learn more about network tokenization here.